Velvet fabric with randomly gapped pile face



United States Patent 0 m1 3,542,086

[72] Inventors WalterJ-Crenshaw [50] Fieldol'Search 139/39], Clemson; 399. 402-406, 397, 398 llolte S. lllcks, La France, South Carollna [2|] Appl.N0. 764,102 ReferencesCIted 22 Filed Oct. 1,1968 UNITED STATES PATENTS 1 Patented 0 2,903,022 9/1959 Hoeselbarth 139/406 1 g By meshelassisnmentsto RiegelTextile, 3,028,884 4/1962 Maclsaac etal.

Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware [52] US." 139/402 [Sl] lnt.Cl. ..D03d27/l0 3,394,739 7/1968 Crcnshawetal.

Primary Examiner--Henry S. Jaudon Au0rneyParrott, Bell, Seltzer, Park & Gibson ABSTRACT: A velvet or plush pile fabric having random gaps in the pile face thereof formed by spaced slubs in slub filling yarns which alternate with plain filling yarns throughout the length of the fabric.

Patented Nov.-24, 1970 3,542,086

(1R3 on fiwmwww INVENTORS:

WALTER lCeENsHAw and HOKE- 5 HLCKS ATTORNEYS while still on the loom .by' a reciprocating knife blade, thus 11 forming-two separate pieces, of velvet fabric..Plaintwis'ted yarns are generally usedas'filling yarns'in velvet fabrics. lnorder to impart an antique appearance to'the two velvet fabrics, slub yarns providedlwith spaced slubs of regular or ir-- regular lengths have been used as filling yarns throughout velvet fabrics. Velvet fab'rics'woven with slub filling yarns have randomly arranged gaps, or fissures formed in the pile faces thereof by virtue of the-fact that the slubs separate the ad- I jacent legsof those. tufts, extending alongbeside the slubs.

.Such gapspresentan appearance of shortrandom fillingwise' streaksthroughoutthefaceofthe-fabric.i

Probably fdue to'the fact that up until quite recently, th filling yarns were inserted in thetwolayers .offifabric being woven on aplush loom-by bobbin-qarrying shuttles whose bobbins .hadto be replaced by anoperator upon exhaustion of the filling thereon, it has been conventional .practice for'many years to weave such antique velvet fabrics from filling'yarns I which were entirely ofthe slub type. As is wellknown, slub yarns are considerably more expensive than 1am twisted yarnsof similar fibers. Thus', such antique velvet'fabrics have been considerably. m'oreexpensiveto produce than the, plain velvet fabrics whose filling yarns are of theplain twisted type.

More recently; shuttleless plush looms have been developed wherein filling yarns'are inserted in. respective upper and lowerwarp shedsby apair of .upper and lower reciprocating filling-drawing rapiers er. needles. A typical shuttleless plush loom is disclosed in U S. Pat --No. 3,3,94-,739, issued July 30,

1968, ofcommoniassign'eevwe have nowdiscovered that thecost of manufacture of antique velvet fabrics havingslub' yarns therein canbe substantially.reducedby weaving the same on shuttleless. plush .loo'rn's {and 3 by equipping such shuttleless plush" looms withxa' filling mixer arranged to I alternate in presenting plain yarn. ands lub yarn to the two, filling-drawing rapiers so that on alternate shots'of the rapiers,=the slubiyarn is- 2 least some of the pile yarns over, theplain filling yarn; then the position of the ground warp yarns is reversed in the respective upper and lower warp sheds'and aplain filling yarn and a slub filling yarn are thenlinse'rted and beaten up in the respective lower and upper warp sheds while shedding at least some of the previously raised pile yarns below the plain filling yarn. The steps then may be repeated in the order prescribed to form the desired lengthof double-layerfabric withvpile yarns interlaced therebetween, after which the pile yarns are severed about half-way between [the two layers of fabric to form t'wo se parate layers of fabric each having alternate lengths ofslub filling yarn and intervening lengths of plain filling yarn therein, the slubs of the slub-yarn then serving to define gaps or fissures in the piletufts'thus formed in each fabric layer.

,Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will-appearas the description proceedsfwhen taken-in connection with the accompanying drawings, in

I which I F1611 is a fragmentaryflplan view of-a'piece of antique .vel-

vet fabric showing fillingw'ise streaks formed in th'elpile face thereof according'to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view. of aportionof the fabric, shownin 1 10. I particularly showinghow the slubs of the slub yarn form gapsor fissures in the pile faceof the fabrici and *FIG. 3, is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional, view takensubstantially along .line.3-3 in ElG: 2 andshowingfln fissure in the pile face ofthe fabric.

particular, how a slub in a correspondingyarn forms a gapor Referring more specifically to the.drawing's,.tl-ie improved velvet fabric produced fin accordance. with this inventionis broadly indicated at 10 in FIGS. 1-3 and comprises a ground fabricor. basewoven from a plurality of ground warp yarns 11 .int'erwoven with alternating firstand sec'ond c'u'tle'ngths of filling yarn 12,-13 beneath which transverse rows of relatively short cut pile tufts l4 are-looped. The yarns lLr 12,-. 13. and

. tufts14 maybe spun fromcotton, rayonor other textile fibers,

presented to one of the rapier's as the plain yarnjis presented to;

the other rapier, and onin'terve'ningfshots of therapiers, the

plain yarn ispresented to said one of the rapiers and the slub yarn'ispresented to-theo'therxrapier. This results in eachlayer of velvet fabric having 'slubl filling yarns therein alternating with pla'infilling yarns throughout-the lengththereof so that one-half of thejfilling yarn 'in the fabric maybe of the slub type and the other expensive,..of the filling yarn may beof the less expensive, plain twisted type, thereby greatly. reducing the cost-of the filling yarnrequiredtomanufacture a given length of antique velvet fabrid i it is. therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved antique velvetfabric. characterized-by 'ltaving rando'mly'spaced. gaps or fissures in the pile'face-thereof, and which fabric may be produced more economically than prior art t-ypeslof velvetfabrics havingsuchgapsor fissuresin thepile facethereof.

'It is amore specific object ofthe inventionto provide an an tique velvet fabrictinwhich' groundjwarp. yarns are interwoven with plain filling yarns and slub filling yarns arranged inialternation throughout the length of .the'fabric, with pile yarns loopedbeneath 'theplain. and slub'fillin'g yarns, wherein the pilefyarns are severed 'to form short tufts. projecting a predetermined distance from one face of the interwoven wrap yarnszand filling yarns, and alsowherein the slubs in theslub filling yarns serve tov form gaps. or fissures in the pile face of thefabric. v

The fabric of this inventionrnay be produced economically on a loom of thetypc disclosed infsaid U.S-. Pat-..N o $394,739

as desired. All filling yarn ii tiisilz, ls a e or.

generally about the same si'ze', with the" important exception that Jeach'fi'rst filling. yarn length- 12 is a plain twisted yarn of substantially uniform size" throughout its length, and each second filling yarn length l3 is in the form of a slub yarn hay --i ngj regularlyjor irregularly spaced slubs or enlarged portions 15 along its length.'The slubs 15. may be. of. the "same or different lengths as desired.

As is usual, the base of the fabric is tightlywoven so that the pile tufts 14 substantially coverand obscurethe ground warp yarns and filling yarns throughout the-fabric. Ho wever ,.wh'er'- ever a slub ls is priesent. in the fab ric those legs of the tufts posit iol d along opposite sides of the respective. slubs are spread apart by the slubs as best sh w n.,in.a somewhat exag gerated manner in FIGS.) and 3. Thus, althoughthe pile tu'fts may 'substantially obscure the slub s, the slu'bscause thelifreeq I end portions of the adjacent pile tufts tobespread ap'art suffi-. ciently to define respective fillingwiselstreaks, gaps or fissures 15athroughout the pile face'of the fabric assho wn in FIGQi. ltlw ill berrotedthat providing a plain filling yarn length 12 between each adjacent'pair of slub filling yarn lengths" 13',

the-fabricof this. invention may be produced rriore economically'th'a'n would be thecase ifall the filling yarnlengthswere I formed of slub yarn, as has been the case heretofore. Even by weaving upper and lower superposed fabric layers with in-' v terconnecting pile yarns therebetween and inserting and beating up a plain filling yarnanda slub filling yarn in respective upper and lower sheds of ground warp yarns while shedding at though plain filling yarn lengths 12 are used in alternationwith slub filling yarn lengths in the instant fabric the fabric does not differ materiallyjin appearance from-an antique fabric whosefilling yarns are all of the slub type.

The-improved velvet fabric 10 may be woven one-shuttle less plush loom of the type disclosed in said U .S.fPat.-. l lo.

3,394,739, issued July-3 0, 1968, to which reference is made for a detailed disclosure thereof. As disclosed in said p'atent, such a loom includes a pair of lower and upper fillingdrawing rapiers which are reciprocated in frontof an oscillatiugreed into and out of respective lower and upper warp sheds formed from respective groups of ground warps for inserting cut lengths of filling yarn in the respective sheds; In so doing, the rapiers also insert corresponding lengths of filling yarn within a common shed formed of pile yarns of which the pile tufts 14 of FIGS. 1, 2 and3 are formed.

. Thus, the fabric, described with respect to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 may constitute a lower fabric layer'woven simultaneously with an upper fabric and during which the lower and upper pile yarns are alternately interwoven with the lower and upper fabric layers, resulting in the pile yarns being interlaced between the lower and upper fabric layers. As the fabric layers are advanced forwardly by suitable takeup means, the pile yarns are severed about halfway between the two fabric layers by means of a transverselyreciprocating knife blade to form two separate layers ofvelvet fabric therefrom.

As heretofore described with respect to FlGS. 1-3, the fabric 10 has alternate lengths of plain filling yarn 12 and intervening lengths of slub filling yarn l3 interwoven with the ground warps 11 to form the base of the fabric. By utilizing a suitable filling mixer arranged to alternate in presenting plain yarn and slub yarn to the two lower and upper filling-drawing rapiers of said patent as stated earlier herein, it can be seen that each layer of fabric produced on the loom will have slub filling yarns therein alternating with plain filling yarns throughout the length thereof, as described with respect to the fabric 10 of FIGS. 1,2 and 3.

It is thus seen that l have provided an improvedlantique velvet fabric wherein the fabric is provided with randomly spaced gaps or fissures in the pile face thereof, the effect of which may be produced more economically than prior art types of antique velvet velvet fabrics having such gaps or fissures therein.

In the drawings and specification, there have been set forth preferred embodiments of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the'scope of the invention being defined'in the claims.

. -We claim:

1. An antique velvet pilerfabric comprising a base of ground warps interwoven with plain filling yarns and slubrfilling yams arranged in alternation throughout the fabric, warpwise rows of tufts of pile yarn looped beneath each of said filling yarns and forming a velvet pile face on the fabric, alternate rows of tufts being looped beneath alternate filling yarns and intervening rows of tufts being looped beneath intervening filling yarns, each slub filling yarn including along its length a plurality of elongate, spaced apart, enlarged slubs of varying length serving to spread apart corresponding tufts looped therebeneath to define elongate spaced apart gaps in the pile face, and saidrplain filling yarns being of substantially uniform size throughout their lengths and of considerably smaller size than the slubs of said slub filling yarns, whereby the use of said plain filling yarns and said slub filling yarns in alternation substantially reduces the usual quantity of slub yarn required.

2. An antique velvet .fabric according to claim 1, wherein the slubs are spaced varying distances apart along the length of each slub filling yarn.

3. An antique velvet pile fabric comprising a base of ground warps interwoven with plain filling yarns and slub filling yarns arranged in alternation throughout the fabric, warpwise rows of tufts of pile yarn looped beneath each of said filling yarns and forming a velvet pile face on the fabric, alternate rows of tufts being looped beneath alternate filling yarns and intervening rows of tufts being looped beneath intervening filling yarns, each slub filling yarn including a plurality of elongate enlarged slubs spaced varying distances apart along its length and serving to spread apart corresponding tufts looped therebeneath to define elongate spaced apart gaps in the pile face, and said plain filling yarns being of substantially uniform size throughout their lengths and of substantially the same size as those portions of said slub filling yarns between adjacent slubs thereof, whereby the use of said plain filling yarns and said slub filling yarns'in alternation substantially reduces the usual quantity of slub yarn required.

Patent No.

Inventor(s) Walt 17 line 32, "velvet velvet fabrics" should fabrics",

Q'EMiD FEB2$1971 mums. mom

Column 1, line 50, "expensive," should be -half--; column line 66, "wrap" should be --warp-- line 8, after "fabric" insert --layer--;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Datqi November 24. 1970 It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

same Column 3, same column be --velvet WILLIAM E. whuxmR, .m 1om1ss1oner of Patents :nnu nn uncn lift :1 

